Basil Rathbone

Philip St. John Basil Rathbone
1892 - 1967 (heart attack)
British born Johannesburg, South Africa

Height 6' 1½" (1.87 m) . Basil Rathbone was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1892, but 3 years later, his family was forced to flee South Africa because his father was accused by the Boers of being a British spy at a time when Dutch-British conflicts were leading to the Boer War. The Rathbones escaped to England, where Basil and his two younger siblings, Beatrice and John, were raised by their mother Anna Barbara, a violinist, and their father Edgar Philip, a mining engineer. From 1906 to 1910, Rathbone attended Repton School, where he was more interested in sports than studies, but discovered his interest in the theater. After graduation, he wished to pursue acting as a profession, but his father disapproved and suggested that his son try working in business for a year, hoping his son would forget about acting. Rathbone accepted his father's suggestion and worked as a clerk for an insurance company--for exactly one year. Then he contacted his cousin Frank Benson, an actor managing a Shakespearean troupe in Stratford-on-Avon.Rathbone was hired as an actor on the condition that he work his way through the ranks, which he did quite rapidly. Starting in bit parts in 1911, he was playing juvenile leads within two years. In 1915 his career was interrupted by the First World War. During his military service, Rathbone became a second lieutenant in the Liverpool Scottish, 2nd Battalion, working in intelligence, and received the Military Cross for bravery. In 1919, released from military service, he returned to Stratford-on-Avon and continued with Shakespeare but after a year moved onto the London stage. The year after that he made his first appearance on Broadway and his film debut in the silent film Innocent (1921).For the remainder of the decade, Rathbone alternated between the London and New York stage and occasional appearances in films. In 1929 he co-wrote and starred as the title character in a short-running Broadway play called "Judas". Soon afterwards, Rathbone abandoned his first love, the theater, for a film career. During the 1920s, his roles had evolved from the romantic lead to the suave lady-killer to the sinister villain (usually wielding a sword), and Hollywood put him to good use during the 1930s in numerous costume romps, including Captain Blood (1935), The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield, the Younger (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Anna Karenina (1935), and The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Tower of London (1939), The Mark of Zorro (1940), and others. Rathbone earned two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936) and as King Louis XI in If I Were King (1938).However, it was in 1939 that Rathbone played his best-known and most popular character, Sherlock Holmes, with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, first in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) and then in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), which were followed by 12 more films and numerous radio broadcasts over the next seen years.Feeling that his identification with the character was killing his film career, Rathbone went back to New York and the stage in 1946. The next year he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Dr. Sloper in the Broadway play "The Heiress," but afterwards found little rewarding stage work. Nevertheless, during the last two decades of his life, Rathbone was a very busy actor, appearing on numerous television shows, primarily drama, variety, and game shows; in occasional films, such as Casanova's Big Night (1954), The Court Jester (1956), Tales of Terror (1962), and The Comedy of Terrors (1964); and in his own one-man show, "An Evening with Basil Rathbone", with which he toured the U.S. Spouse Ouida Bergère (18 April 1926 - 21 July 1967) (his death) 1 daughter,Marion Foreman (October 1914 - 1926) (divorced) 1 son.

The Great Mouse Detective (1986) , Autopsia de un fantasma (1968) , Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967) , "Hallmark Hall of Fame" (1957) , Soldier in Love (1967) , "Summer Fun" (1966) , The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) , Queen of Blood (1966) , "Dr. Kildare" (1964) , Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) , "Burke's Law" (1965) , The Comedy of Terrors (1964) , Two Before Zero (1962) , Tales of Terror (1962) , The Magic Sword (1962) , Ponzio Pilato (1962) , Victoria Regina (1961) , Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus (1961) , The Black Cat (1961) , "The Christophers" (1960) , "Tales from Dickens" (1958) , The Last Hurrah (1958) , "The DuPont Show of the Month" (1958) , "Kraft Television Theatre" (1956) , "The United States Steel Hour" (1957) , "The Alcoa Hour" (1956) , The Black Sleep (1956) , "Screen Directors Playhouse" (1956) , The Court Jester (1956) , "Star Tonight" (1955) , "Science Fiction Theater" (1955) , We're No Angels (1955) , Billy Budd (1955) , "Shower of Stars" (1954) , "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1954) , "Studio One" (1954) , "Love Story" (1954) , Casanova's Big Night (1954) , "The Philip Morris Playhouse" (1954) , "The Motorola Television Hour" (1953) , Season's Greetings (1953) , "Danger" (1953) , "Suspense" (1951) , "Broadway Television Theatre" (1953) , "Lux Video Theatre" (1951) , "Lights Out" (1951) , "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1951) , "Nash Airflyte Theatre" (1950) , "Your Show of Shows" (1950) , "The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre" (1949) , The Wind in the Willows (1949) , The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) , Dressed to Kill (1946) , Heartbeat (1946) , Terror by Night (1946) , Pursuit to Algiers (1945) , The Woman in Green (1945) , Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear (1945) , Frenchman's Creek (1944) , The Pearl of Death (1944) , Bathing Beauty (1944) , The Scarlet Claw (1944) , The Spider Woman (1944) , Crazy House (1943) , Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) , Above Suspicion (1943) , Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) , Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) , Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) , Crossroads (1942) , Fingers at the Window (1942) , Paris Calling (1941) , International Lady (1941) , The Black Cat (1941) , The Mad Doctor (1941) , The Mark of Zorro (1940) , Rhythm on the River (1940) , Tower of London (1939) , Rio (1939) , The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) , The Sun Never Sets (1939) , The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) , Son of Frankenstein (1939) , The Dawn Patrol (1938) , If I Were King (1938) , The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) , The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) , Tovarich (1937) , Make a Wish (1937) , Confession (1937) , Love from a Stranger (1937) , The Garden of Allah (1936) , Romeo and Juliet (1936), Private Number (1936) , A Tale of Two Cities (1935) , Captain Blood (1935) , Kind Lady (1935) , A Feather in Her Hat (1935) , The Last Days of Pompeii (1935) , Anna Karenina (1935) , The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield, the Younger (1935) , One Precious Year (1933) , Loyalties (1933) , After the Ball (1933) , A Woman Commands (1932) , Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) , A Lady Surrenders (1930) , The Lady of Scandal (1930) , The Flirting Widow (1930) , A Notorious Affair (1930) , This Mad World (1930) , The Bishop Murder Case (1930) , The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) , The Great Deception (1926) , The Masked Bride (1925) , Trouping with Ellen (1924) , The School for Scandal (1923/II) , The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots (1923) , Innocent (1921) , The Fruitful Vine (1921)